Ever since Google introduced the concept of micro-moments several years ago, they’ve consistently utilized a two-pronged answer to explain how marketers can leverage micro-moments in their current strategies: “be there” and “be useful.” In fairness it’s difficult to argue with either point. Yes, obviously marketers should strive to increase their online visibility, and of course, they should try to create content that addresses consumer concerns. However, for businesses that want to go deeper and adopt a micro-moment marketing plan, those answers don’t provide a detailed blueprint for success.

That’s why we’ve decided to write one for you.

Here are five ways your business can begin to more effectively plan for micro-moments and use them to improve marketing results:

Inspire Micro-Moments

Contrary to popular belief, micro-moments don’t appear out of thin air; rather, marketing and advertising content itself often acts as the catalyst for micro-moments and the customer journey in general. Any time someone watches a commercial, hears a radio ad, or comes across a piece of marketing content and decides to find out more about a product, service, or company through an internet search, a micro-moment has occurred. And it hasn’t happened “out of the blue.” The truth is, your content is producing micro-moments all the time.

Identify What’s Successful

So how can you determine which pieces of your marketing strategy are most effective at “triggering” micro-moments within your consumer base? Well, one easy way to do just that is to attribute website visits, phone calls, and offline sales back to the content that caused them. (In other words, track your conversions.) Call tracking software connects offline sales calls back to digital marketing efforts (blogs, social-media posts, etc.) that generated them.

What’s more, businesses can now track conversions made as a result of offline efforts like TV advertisements thanks to breakthroughs in broadcast-to-digital tracking technology from Advocado. Our flagship product, MicroMoment+, accurately attributes digital activity back to the TV commercials that inspired it in the first place. In other words, when someone clicks on one of your web pages after watching one of your TV commercials –– you’ll know about it!

Enhance Existing Content

The next phase in successful micro-moment marketing is working to improve your existing content. Once you’ve determined which of your content strategies are functioning well and which aren’t, it’s time to adjust your tactics. You may want to ditch some ideas altogether. On the other hand, you’ll also be able to alter existing content and align it to fit your consumers’ needs. (Keep in mind that only nine percent of users will stay on an app if it doesn’t address their question immediately.) Either way, this step will help you increase conversion rates and improve your marketing ROI.

“Be There” in Real Time

Let’s play a hypothetical game for a moment. Imagine if someone told you that you’d meet the love of your life outside the gas station nearest to your home. What would you do? Would you stand outside of that gas station day and night, rain or shine, waiting for that special person to show up?

Google seems to expect people to stand outside of that hypothetical gas station and wait forever. When they say “be there,” they’re essentially advising businesses to adopt a cross-channel marketing strategy that encompasses all aspects of media. Since you’re not supposed to be able to predict when micro-moments occur, you’re only option is to be on alert all the time.

While there’s definitely value in creating cogent content across a wide array of media, there’s a better way to find quality leads who are about to experience micro-moments. MicroMoment+ helps your content “be there” in real time for interested consumers. Allow us to explain: Consider again a consumer watching television. Data suggests 81% of consumers will watch TV with a mobile device handy, and it’s safe to assume that number won’t go down any time soon. When that consumer sees an ad that resonates with them, they’re then very likely to pick up their smartphone and search for related keywords. With MicroMoment+ AdBot, your business’s digital ads will automatically receive a boost in conjunction with your broadcast commercial schedule. Our system knows the precise moment when an ad begins to air, and at that moment, MicroMoment+ AdBot adjusts/boosts the bid. Then, 90 seconds after the commercial ends, AdBot automatically returns bids to their normal level to avoid burning budget. In this way, you can strategically plan for the moments when your consumer base is most likely to take action and seek out your business –– i.e, right after a TV commercial. Rather than spending huge amounts of capital on digital advertising 24/7, you can map out the most lucrative times and pursue the most profitable opportunities with MicroMoment+.

Thanks to this technology you can unite your cross-channel marketing efforts in a way that simply wasn’t possible before.

Be Useful AND Specific

To continue the theme of linking cross-channel strategies, it’s vital that your content tackles the particular questions your consumers want answered. In brief, you need to craft marketing material that addresses each level of the customer journey. You don’t want to inundate a fresh lead with information they haven’t asked for (and may not understand) yet. It’s great to prioritize your audience when you create content. But it’s even better to know which stage your lead has progressed to when creating content for them. If you manage to segment your content based on the different levels of the customer journey, however, you’ll eliminate any friction in the buying process and create a seamless transition from initial interest all the way through to the ultimate purchase decision.

Final Thoughts

Micro-moments are an inextricable element of the buyer’s journey, and marketers now have the choice to embrace them or ignore them. The good news is, relatively few businesses have managed to harness the power of micro-moments so far. If you’re ready to give your marketing and advertising efforts a major shot in the arm, then contact Advocado today. It’s our goal to help you increase conversion rates, lower advertising costs, and improve your marketing ROI. We’ve developed the platforms and technology to help you succeed –– but don’t just take our word for it. Check them out here for yourself: